1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a linear vibrator and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to a linear vibrator allowing for ease in manufacturing and coupling of components thereof and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, touch screen type personal portable electronic devices have come into widespead use. These touch type terminals generally include a vibration mechanism generating vibrations as touch feedback.
A vibration motor, converting electrical energy into mechanical vibrations using the principle of generating electromagnetic force, is mounted in a personal portable electronic device to be used for providing touch feedback or for silently notifying a user of call reception by transferring vibrations thereto.
According to the related art, a vibration motor using a scheme of obtaining mechanical vibrations by generating rotational force to rotate a rotating part having unbalanced mass has been mainly used.
However, in the case of the vibration motor using the rotational force as described above, since mechanical friction may be generated between a brush and a commutator and electrical sparks may be generated accordingly, foreign objects may be generated, such that a lifespan of the motor may be shortened.
In addition, since it takes time to arrive at a target amount of vibrations at the time of the application of voltage to the motor, due to rotational inertia, there may be a problem in implementing vibrations appropriate for touch feedback.
In order to solve these problems, a linear vibrator has mainly been used, instead of the vibration motor using rotational force.
The linear vibrator uses a scheme of periodically generating vibrations by allowing an elastic member installed therein and a mass body suspending on the elastic member to be vibrated at a resonant frequency, rather than using the rotational principle of the motor.
Generally, a linear vibrator is configured of a fixed part and a vibration part. More specifically, the fixed part is disposed in an inner portion of a case, and the vibration part is disposed to be vibrated in the inner portion of the case through the elastic member.
However, according to the related art, the elastic member may be welded to the inner surface of the case to be connected thereto. Therefore, in order to assemble the linear vibrator, the elastic member should first be connected to the case and the vibration part should then be connected to the elastic member. As a result, a process may be complicated and automation may be difficult to implement. In addition, foreign objects may be generated during a welding process and remain in the case, such that a defect is caused therein.